Tara signed her statement and stood to leave, "All done, can I go now?"

D nodded, "Thanks, Tara. Yes you're free to go, go back to Bobby and your family."

Tara smiled, "Family. I didn't think it would happen quite the way it has."

"Things have a way of surprising you, but you and Bobby are doing a fantastic job, and I know how hard being a parent can be."

"Thanks, D," she replied briefly hugging him.

As D watched Tara leave, he began to think about how he could sell Tara's statement of events to the powers that be, so that he could ensure his team would stay together.


Tara stopped by Ben's room on the way back to Maddie's, she found Lucy cradling Ben and giving him his afternoon bottle. Sue was flicking through a magazine and Levi was lying underneath the crib watching everything that was going on.

"How's my little man?" Tara asked peering over Lucy's shoulder.

"He's fine, a hungry little man, but fine. The nurse has been by several times to check how he is but his obs are completely normal," Lucy reassured her friend. "How are you?"

"Tired, worried but hanging on," Tara replied stroking Ben's head.

"How's Bobby?"

"He's hanging on too; I don't know what I would have done today without him. He's like my rock, I'm anchored to him and with him I know I can survive anything."

Lucy beamed, "I guess I'm losing my touch."

"Your touch?"

"Well eventually Sue and Jack finally got a home run, but I hadn't a clue that you and Bobby were anything more than friends. You never ever let on, you're good."

Tara smiled, "Just confused. I never thought Bobby could ever feel that way for me, so I didn't dwell on my feelings; I took the friendship he offered and embraced it. It just got harder to remain friends when we were living in such close quarters and experiencing what we both wanted," she paused. "Family."

"Well from a very talented observer of people, you make a fantastic family. Maddie and Ben are two lucky children to have both of you caring for them."

"Thank you, that means a lot," she leant over and kissed Ben. "Now you be good for Auntie Lucy and I'll see you later, sweetie."

"Give Maddie a hug for us, "Lucy requested.

"Will do," Tara replied, waving as she left.


She stood in the doorway listening to Bobby.

"Well, Maddie you know what that kangaroo did?" he paused, stroking a strand of hair out of her face. "He bounced off with Mrs. Smith's laundry straight into the bush and Mrs. Smith came bounding out of her house chasing him with her wooden spoon." He paused, "Maddie when you're feeling better, I'm going to take you, Mommy and Ben to Australia for a visit and we'll see if we can find that kangaroo. Now I want you to keep fighting those nasty bugs, because Mommy and I want you to wake up and give us your fantastic smile. Sleep well, love." He leant over and kissed her forehead.

Tears streamed from Tara's eyes, she'd never heard anything that had touched her so completely, and she walked over to him and sat in the empty chair.

Feeling her presence he turned towards her, alarm crossing his face as he took in her appearance.

"Tara?" he asked, reaching out and wiping a tear from her cheek with his thumb, "What's wrong, is it Ben?"

She shook her head, "That was beautiful."

Confusion crossed Bobby's face, "What was?"

"What I overheard you telling Maddie." She smiled through her tears, "I love you."

He smiled, relief washing over him, "Well I meant every word of it, when this is all finished and when we've adopted them, we're going to Australia in search of the kangaroo."

"I'd love to go and search for the kangaroo," she replied gently brushing her lips over his, relishing the comfort he offered her.

"Yuk," a small voice whispered.

They both broke apart and glanced towards the bed, hoping that what they heard was true, "Maddie?" Tara asked leaning towards the child, whose eyes were open.

"Mommy, where am I?" Maddie asked her voice quiet and crackly.

"You're in hospital, sweetie. You've been very poorly, the doctors have given you some medicine to make you feel better, but it's going to take a while."

"Hey, Maddie, I missed you," Bobby added, leaning over Tara and smiling at the child.

"Daddy, I missed you, too."

"I'm going to go and get the Doctor; I think he'll want to know you're awake. I'll be back in a minute," he promised, planting a brief kiss on Maddie's forehead before quickly leaving the room in search of a doctor or nurse.

"Mommy?"

"Yes, sweetie?"

"My head still hurts and my tummy does too."

"Would you like me to rub your tummy?" Tara asked, climbing onto the edge of the bed and pulling Maddie into her, so that she was resting her head on her shoulder.

"Yes please," she replied, snuggling into the warmth her mother offered her.

Tara began to rub Maddie's tummy in concentric circles, whilst singing one of her favourite songs, "Raindrops on roses and whiskers on kittens…"


Doctor Kerr followed Bobby back to Maddie's room and couldn't help but smile at the scene before him, Mrs. Manning had climbed onto the bed with her child and was singing softly too her, the child was snuggled into her mother's embrace listening quietly to her song. Maddie was certainly lucky to have parents who cared so much for her; it wasn't always true of the young patients that sometimes crossed his path.

He walked up to the bed and motioned for Mrs. Manning not to move, "Hello, Maddie. I'm Doctor Kerr."

"Hello," Maddie croaked her reply.

"You're throat's going to be sore and croaky for a while, because you haven't had anything to drink. I don't want you to have any water for a while, because I want to give your tummy a chance to settle. We're giving you a special drink through this needle here," he pointed to the needle in the back of her hand. "It also contains special medicine that's going to make those nasty bugs go away. You're going to feel very sleepy and it's important that you get lots of sleep. It's also important that Mommy and Daddy get some sleep too." He added looking directly at Tara, who he'd noticed was looking very tired. "Now, Maddie, I'm going to use my stethoscope to listen to your heartbeat, if you want I'll let you listen to it too."

Maddie nodded her head slightly and waited for the Doctor to finish before allowing her a turn; she smiled as she heard the regular thudding sound of her heart.

Doctor Kerr, checked out the machines, took Maddie's temperature and then motioned Bobby to follow him to the door.

"Mr. Manning, it is a good sign that Maddie has regained consciousness, although she's not out of danger yet. We've had her test results back and it is bacterial meningitis, I've prescribed the appropriate medication and it will be added to her I.V. in a few minutes by the nurse. She is now in a more stable condition than when the paramedics brought her in, but she's still got a long battle ahead of her and she's going to need the support of you and your wife."

Bobby nodded, taking in the Doctor's words.

"I believe you need to take your wife home and let her get some rest, I'm going to prescribe a sedative for Maddie, to ensure she gets a good night's rest. Your son is in fine hands here, you both need the time to regroup. Tomorrow is going to be just as long as today, we don't want either of you to burn out. Trust me."

"Thank you, Doctor, I'll see what I can do."

"Good, I'll be back shortly to oversee the sedative." He replied smiling as he turned and left the room.

Bobby returned to Tara's side, "What did the Doctor say?" Tara asked quietly, trying not to disturb the now sleeping child.

"He said that it's a good sign that Maddie's awake and that he's going to prescribe a sedative for her so that she gets a good night's sleep."

"Is it meningitis?"

"Yes and the nurse should be here in a moment with her antibiotics."

"Did he say whether she's going to be okay?"

"He couldn't promise anything, he said she's more stable than she was this morning and although she's not completely out of danger she's making good progress."

She smiled slightly, "That's good, isn't it?"

"Very. The Doctor also had some other advice."

"What?"

"That I'm to take you home to get some rest, because tomorrow will be another long day and Maddie and Ben need you feeling okay, not tired."

"But I'm not tired," she insisted, shifting slightly to make her body more rigid.

"Tara, honey, I know you don't want to leave them, neither do I, but I can't worry about you too. If you don't go and get something to eat and rest you're going to get ill and then who'll help me get through this?" He asked, his eyes pleading with her.

She could understand Bobby's logic, "Okay," she whispered quietly. "But I want to know that SOG and someone else we know is here with Ben and Maddie."

"I'll go and speak to D," he replied leaning forward and kissing her briefly.


Half an hour later Bobby returned, D following behind him.

"Hey, Tara," D smiled noticing how protectively she was cradling Maddie. "Lucy has arranged a hotel room for you and Bobby in the hotel next door. She is going to go to your apartment and get your things; Myles has already stopped by Bobby's and picked him up some essentials. I've arranged for Sue to sit with Maddie first and Jack with Ben. Then Myles and I are going to share the night shift, we're not letting them out of our sight. I promise."

Tara smiled, "Thank you, you've all been wonderful today."

"It's what any of us would do for our team, remember that. Lucy has also promised to keep Sue company tonight and I'm pretty sure Donna will stop by too, so the children are going to have plenty of friendly faces with them. I've also got two SOG units here as well; all you two have to do is go and get some sleep."

"We'll try," Tara promised.

"Lucy will be back in about half an hour, then we'll say goodnight to Ben and head to the hotel," Bobby clarified.

Tara nodded, "Did you hear that, Maddie? You've got all your special Aunts and Uncles watching you tonight, until Mommy and Daddy come back in the morning."

Maddie didn't hear Tara's words, she was enjoying her first peaceful sleep of the day.